FROM THIS EPISODE

Polls show Romney The Man just just isn’t connecting with voters. Has Obama defined him? An anti-Romney ad features a steelworker’s story of losing his wife to cancer right after a Bain restructuring cost him his job and his company medical insurance. The Obama campaign claims it had no role, but that same steelworker appeared in an Obama ad AND on a campaign-organized conference call. Romney accuses Obama of dismantling a Clinton-era achievement: welfare reform (no word on whether POTUS #42 sent Romney a fruit-basket for safeguarding the ol’ presidential legacy). Was Romney maybe trying to peel away moderates? Speaking of strategic thinking, what’s the calculus behind Romney’s VP pick? And, with July setting temperature records you’d think policy-makers---not to mention presidential candidates---might be moved to address climate change. Is it political in here or is it me?